The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section 128

Section CXXVIII. *( Sambhava Parva continued. )* Vaisampayana said, "Then Bhisma and Kunti with their friends celebrated the *sradha* of the deceased monarch, and offered the *pinda*. And they feasted the Kauravas and thousands of Brahmanas, to whom they also gave gems and lands. Then the citizens returned to the city with the sons of king Pandu, now that they had been cleansed from the impurity incident to the demise of their father. All then fell to weeping for the departed king,—it seemed as if they had lost one of their own kin. "When the *sradha* had been celebrated in the manner mentioned above, the venerable Vyasa, seeing all the subjects sunk in grief, said one day to his mother Satyavati 'Mother, our days of happiness have gone by and days of calamity have succeeded. Sin beginneth to increase day by day. The world hath got old. The empire of the Kauravas will no longer endure, because of wrong and oppression. Go thou then into the forest, and devote thyself to contemplation through the *Yoga*! Henceforth society will be filled with illusion and wrong. Good works will cease. Do not witness the annihilation of thy race, in this old age! "And acquiescing in the words of Vyasa, Satyavati entered the inner apartments, and addressed her daughter-in-law, saying, 'O Ambika! I hear that in consequence of the deeds of your grand-sons, this Bharata dynasty and their subjects will perish! If thou permit, I would go to the forest with Kausalya, so grieved at the loss of her son.' O king, saying this, the queen, taking the permission of Bhisma also, went to the forest. And arriving there with her two daughters-in-law, she became engaged in profound contemplation, and in good time leaving her body ascended to heaven." Vaisampayana continued, "Then the sons of king Pandu, having gone through all the purifying rites prescribed in the Vedas, began to grow up in princely style in the home of their father. Whenever they were engaged in play with the sons of Dhrita-rashtra, their superiority of-strength was marked. Alike in speed and in securing objects aimed at, alike in consuming articles of food and in throwing up dust, Bhim-sena beat all the sons of Dhrita-rashtra. That son of the wind-god pulled them by the hair and made them fight with one another, laughing all the while. They could not have defeated him had their number been one hundred and one. The second Pandava used to take hold of them by the hair, and throwing them on the ground, to rub their faces over the earth. By this, some had their knees broken, some their legs, some their heads. That strong youth sometimes holding ten of them drowned them in water; and did not release them till they were well nigh dead. When the sons of Dhrita-rashtra got up to the boughs of a tree for plucking fruits, Bhima used to shake the tree, by striking it with his foot, so that down came the fruits and the fruit-pluckers at the same time. In fact those princes were no match for Bhimain pugilistic encounters, in speed, or in skill. Bhima used to make a childish display of his strength. by thus tormenting them. "And seeing these wonderful exhibitions of the might of Bhima, Duryodhana, the powerful eldest son of Dhrita-rashtra, began to conceive hostility towards him. And the wicked and unrighteous Duryodhana, through ignorance and ambition, prepared himself for an act of sin, He thought, "There is no other individual who can compare with Bhima the second son of Pandu in point of prowess. I shall have to destroy him by artifice. Singly, Bhima dares us all one hundred to the combat. Therefore, when he shall sleep in the garden, I shall throw him into the current of the Ganga. Afterwards, confining his eldest brother Yudish-thira and his younger Arjuna, I shall reign sole king without molestation.' Deters mined thus, the wicked Duryodhana was ever on the watch to find out the failings of Bhima. And, O son of Bharata, at length at a beautiful place called Praman-koti on the banks of the Ganga, he built a palace decorated with hangings of broadcloth and other rich stuffs. And he built this palace for sporting in the water there, and filled it with all kinds of entertaining things, and choice viands. Gay flags waved on the top of this mansion. The name of the house was *Udakakrirana*. Skilful cooks prepared various kinds of viands. When all was ready, the officers gave intimation to Duryodhana. Then the evil-minded prince said to the Pandavas, 'Let us all go to the banks of the Ganga graced with trees and crowned with flowers, and sport there in the waters.' And on Yudhish-thira agreeing to this, the sons of Dhrita-rashtra, taking the Pandavas with them mounted huge elephants and a car resembling a city, and left the metropolis. "On arriving at the place, the princes dismissed their attendants, and surveying the beauty of the grove, entered the palace, like lions entering their dens. On entering they saw that the architects had handsomely plastered the walls and the ceilings and that painters had painted them beautifully. The windows looked very graceful, and the artificial fountains were splendid. At places, were tanks of pellucid water in which bloomed forests of lotuses. The banks were decked with various flowers whose fragrance filled the atmosphere. The Kauravas and the Pandavas sat down and began to enjoy the things provided for them. They became engaged in play and began to exchange morsels of food with one another. In the meantime the evil Duryo-dhana had mixed *kalkuta* (a kind of powerful poison) with a quantity of food, with the object of making away with Bhima. That wicked youth (who had nectar in his tongue, and poison in his heart) rose at length, and in a friendly way fed Bhima largely with that poisoned food, and thinking himself lucky in having, compassed his end was exceedingly glad at heart. Then the sons of Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu together became cheerfully engaged in sporting in the water. On their sports having been finished, they dressed themselves in white habiliments, and decked themselves with various ornaments. Fatigued with the play, they felt inclined in the evening to rest in the pleasure house belonging to the garden. Having made the other youths exercise in the waters, the powerful second Pandava was excessively fatigued. So that on rising from the water, he lay down on the ground. He was weary and under the influence of the poison. And the cool air served to spread the poison over all his frame, so that he lost his senses at once. Seeing this, Duryodhana bound him with chords of shrubs, and threw him into the water. The insensible son of Pandu sank down till he reached the Naga kingdom. The Nagas, furnished with fangs containing virulent venom, bit him by thousands. The vegetable poison, mingled in the blood of the son of the wind-god, was neutralised by the serpent-poison. The serpents had bitten all over his frame, except his chest, the skin of which was so tough that their fangs could not penetrate it. "On regaining his consciousness, the son of Kunti burs his bands and began to bury the snakes under the ground. A remnant fled for life, and going to their king Vasuki, represented, 'O king of snakes, a man sank under the water, bound in chords of shrubs. Probably he had drunk poison. For when he fell amongst us, he was insensible. But when we began biting him, he regained his senses, and bursting his fetters, commenced laying at us. May it please your majesty to enquire who he is.' "Then Vasuki, in accordance with the prayer of the inferior Nagas, went to the place and saw Bhim-sena. Of the serpents, there was one, named Aryaka. He was the grand-futher of the father of Kunti. The lord of serpents saw his relative and embraced him. Then, Vasuki, learning all, was pleased with Bhima, and said to Aryaka with satisfaction, 'How are we to please him? Let him have money and gems in profusion.' "On hearing the words of Vasuki, Aryaka said, 'O king of serpents, when your majesty is pleased with him, no need of wealth for him. Permit him to drink of your *rasa-kundu* (nectar-vessels) and thus acquire immeasurable strength. There is the strength of one thousand elephants in each one of those vessels. Let this prince drink as much as he can.' "The king of serpents gave his consent. And the serpents thereupon began auspicious rites. Then purifying himself carefully, Bhim-sena sat facing the east, and began to drink the nectar. At one breath, he quaffed off a whole vessel, and in this manner drained off eight successive jars, till he was full. At length the serpents prepared an excellent bed for him, on which he lay down at ease." Thus ends the hundred and twenty-eighth Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.